


Solace

by ChronicCombustion



Category: Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name
Genre: Afterlife, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, Reunions, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 00:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5846455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronicCombustion/pseuds/ChronicCombustion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even when hope has died and there is nothing left to live for, you will never walk alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solace

**Author's Note:**

> Because who hasn't thought of Conrad staying young and immortal as his friends all grow old around him and die?

He had forgotten just how beautiful the dawn really was. It had been so long since he had seen the sun; seen its first glowing rays wash over the world, bringing an end to the quiet stillness of the night, waking the earth from sleep. It had been so long. And he had missed it so much.

But now as he sat on the grassy hillside, his back against the rough stone of the grave marker, it was like he had never been away from it. He was going to die, he knew that, but strangely he was okay with the thought of death. This was what he had wanted, after all. To see the sun one last time.

He felt the warmth spread across his face, felt it chipping away at his skin, turning his bones to blackened ash, to dust, and through it all he simply smiled and kept his eyes open. He never once closed them against the sun.

He wanted to watch the dawn.

Slowly, as he let his body burn away, the image of the world around him faded and he found himself somewhere else entirely. He was unsure as to where, or how, or when he had appeared there; all he could feel was…calm, peaceful. He wasn’t afraid. This was death, it must be. There was nothing else it could be.

But if this was death, then why was he alone?

_“Conrad!”_

Had he still breath, it would have left him in a slow exhalation. He knew that voice, knew it so well. And it had been _years_. His eyes closed as his lips curled softly into a smile he had not known he remembered how to make. Cautiously, as if it would break whatever wonderful spell he was under, he turned.

And there they were. All of them. Just beyond where he was standing, at the end of a corridor of nothingness. He wanted to cry from sheer joy, wanted to run to them all and throw his arms around them in a never-ending embrace, wanted to do a thousand things. But he didn’t. He just stood there, frozen in place.

He was afraid.

Did he deserve to be here? With them? How could his soul possibly be as good as any one of theirs? Even the smug-looking doctor who stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Oh, how he wanted to join them, but he wasn’t good enough, and so he hesitated, unsure of what to do.

They seemed to sense his apprehension. They reached out to him, beckoning him home. But he still couldn’t move. He just _couldn’t move_. And then, as if in slow motion, one of them moved _for_ him, breaking away from the others and stepping forward.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to tell him not to bother. _I’m not good enough…_ But the words never came. Instead, his friend stepped closer still, smile warm and welcoming and spreading across his features just like he had remembered it doing in life. Long, cool fingers reached out and curled around his hand. There was a gentle pull, almost like the kiss of the wind, and that smile grew ever wider.

_“Come on, Conrad.”_

He glanced from that smile back to the small crowd that seemed just that much closer than before. He saw the flash of too-sharp teeth, the tender cascade of blue and black hair, heard the smooth laughter, the far-off ticking of an ethereal pocket watch, even saw the familiar orange of an old dress shirt. _Not green anymore,_ he thought quietly. _No, no of course he wouldn’t be, he would look alive._

The pull at his hand came again and his eyes shifted back to the figure in front of him, at bright, fiery red hair and a friendly grin. And this time, he smiled back.

_“Connie…everyone’s waiting.”_

_“…I know, Hanna…Let’s go.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another I wrote back in 2010. It's old, it's cheesy, but I'm still really proud of this one anyway. 
> 
> Especially since Tessa herself actually read and liked it on DA way back when~
> 
>  
> 
> Like my work? Wanna geek out with me? [Come and hit me up on tumblr!!](http://chroniccombustion.tumblr.com/) 0w0


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